Nigerian military officers face trial over alleged coup attempt

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Several Nigerian military officers are to face trial for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government of Bola Tinubu in a coup plot last year.

Nigeria’s military said this week that, following an internal investigation, “a number” of the 16 detained officers, who were arrested last October, have been tied to “allegations of plotting to overthrow the government”.

It is unclear how many of the detained officers — who have not been formally identified — stand accused of being involved in the alleged plot, which could have ended a quarter of a century of civilian rule.

Samaila Uba, the Nigerian military’s spokesperson, said in a terse statement on Monday that the detained officers would face military justice.

Uba added that the military would make efforts to ensure that “order, discipline and operational effectiveness” were maintained but provided no additional details on when legal proceedings were expected to take place.

President Tinubu cancelled Independence Day celebrations on October 1 last year after his government was tipped off about the alleged coup attempt during a military parade, according to local media reports and people briefed on the situation.

Rumours that a coup had been foiled were initially strongly denied in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, with the military claiming that the 16 officers had grievances that were tied to perceived career stagnation.

Tinubu later sacked the chief of defence staff as well as the heads of the army, navy and air force on October 24, before replacing the defence minister with a former general.

Feyi Fawehinmi, a Nigerian author and historian, said Nigerians had come to take democracy for granted after the country returned to civilian rule in 1999 following decades of military governments. It had become commonplace in Nigeria for people to say the military, whose senior officials are well paid and receive generous pensions at retirement, had no interest in running the country of 240mn people.

But the coups in several of Nigeria’s Sahelian neighbours, most recently in Niger in 2023, meant such complacency was misplaced, said Fawehinmi. “Look around at the Sahel and you have to ask yourself, ‘do you really think some Nigerian soldiers won’t get some funny ideas’?” he added.

Nigeria underwent repeated military coups between 1966 and 1993, before returning to civilian rule in 1999. The acknowledgment of the alleged plot is the clearest sign that Nigeria may not be immune to the resurgence in military coups across West Africa in the past several years.

Tinubu has been grappling with a growing security crisis that has led to increasingly embattled Nigerian forces being deployed on several fronts, including against Islamist insurgents, armed criminals and to deal with deadly conflicts between herders and farmers.  

Under Tinubu, Nigeria has also taken a firm stance against military coups in the region. Abuja deployed forces to neighbouring Benin in December to assist local forces in thwarting a violent putsch in Cotonou led by disgruntled officers seeking to overthrow President Patrice Talon.

In November, Guinea-Bissau became the latest country in West Africa to undergo a military putsch, when officers deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. Military juntas have also taken over Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Gabon since 2021.

Yusuf Musa Dauda, an activist calling for the release of the detained Nigerian officers, told local media on Sunday that they had been denied sufficient medical care and had been prevented from having contact with their families since their arrest.